The Danish inventor arrested in connection with the disappearance of a Swedish journalist last seen on his home-made submarine has admitted she died on the vessel, police say today.
Peter Madsen, 46, claims 30-year-old Kim Wall died in an accident on his submarine, and that he then buried her at sea in a bay near Copenhagen.
Danish and Swedish authorities have been combing the waters along their respective coasts for ten days in the search for Miss Wall’s remains, and it is hoped the new revelations from Madsen can speed up the search.
Missing: Kim Wall, 30, (left) had gone along for the submarine’s maiden voyage to report on Peter Madsen (right), who built it himself. He is under investigation for negligent manslaughter
‘The accused has told police and the court that an accident happened on board the submarine, which brought the death of Kim Wall, and that he after this buried her at sea at an undefined place in Køge Bay,’ Copenhagen authorities said in a statement on Monday.
‘Copenhagen Police adds that the man is still held on suspicion of aggravated manslaughter.’
Miss Wall was last seen on board the vessel with amateur builder Madsen on August 10, but until now, he has insisted he let her off that evening.
Madsen was picked up by the Danish navy on August 11, when his submarine sunk in Copenhagen harbour.
He was photographer making a ‘thumbs up’ as he made it to the shore, but was later arrested after Miss Wall’s family reported her missing.
Danish investigators say they have found evidence the Nautilus was sunk deliberately.
Mystery: Danish police have now enlisted the help of their Swedish counterparts, but say it is possible that Madsen transported Miss Wall as far as Germany
Extended search: A Swedish Sea Rescue Society unit searches for the missing journalist Kim Wall at Lundakra Bay between Barseback and Landskrona, in Sweden
Miss Wall was a freelance journalist who graduated with a masters from Columbia University before going on to write about identity, gender, pop-culture, social justice and foreign policy.
She grew up in Sweden but spent time living in New York and Beijing. Her writing has appeared in Harpers, The Guardian, New York Times, Foreign Policy, Vice Magazine, Slate, South China Morning Post, The Atlantic, Roads & Kingdoms, and TIME.
The freelance reporter boarded the sub, which was built by Madsen, on Thursday night in order to write a story about it.
On Friday morning the Danish Navy were scrambled to help the stricken sub, before reporting it sunk at 10.45am.
Madsen claims he was the only one on board at the time, and that he dropped Miss Wall off at the mouth of the harbour shortly after 10pm the previous night.
But Danish police on Sunday said he has given them several conflicting accounts of what had happened, without elaborating further.
Miss Wall’s family and boyfriend have not heard from her since she boarded the submarine and police have been unable to contact her.
Around the time he claimed to have dropped Miss Wall off, Madsen sent a mysterious text to a friend saying she had left the vessel and cancelling a trip he was supposed to be taking on the submarine the following day, according to local reports.
He did not respond to questions from the friend about why he had dropped Miss Wall off or why the trip was being cancelled.
Madsen was arrested on manslaughter charges on Saturday before a judge ordered that he be held in custody while investigations are carried out.
He is charged with having killed Miss Wall ‘in an unknown way and in an unknown place sometime after 5pm on Thursday.’
Madsen, an amateur enthusiast who had built the UC3 Nautilus himself, has a history of lashing out at journalists who gave his project bad press, his biographer has said.
‘He often ends up in conflicts, and has a lot of enemies,’ says Thomas Djursing, a journalist who has written a book about Madsen.
‘He can throw tools at you. But at the same time, he’s not a violent person. I’ve never been afraid of him,’ he told Aftonbladet.
Mr Djursing adds that Madsen would often become angry with journalists who wrote about his ambitious projects in a negative way, and says ‘I don’t know a journalist who has not been in conflict with him’.
‘Hot-tempered’: Peter Madsen, pictured with fellow enthusiast Kristian von Bengtson and one of their rocket prototypes in 2010, allegedly has a history of lashing out at journalists
Passionate: Madsen’s biographer has revealed that the hobby rocket builder has made enemies of the people he has worked with , and that his temper can flare unexpectantly
Police have raised the wreckage of Danish sub UC3 Nautilus which sank in Copenhagen on Friday, but failed to find the body of journalist Kim Wall, 30
A new image has also emerged which Swedish media claims shows Miss Wall on board the sub alongside Madsen on Friday, after he claimed she had disembarked
In Mr Djursing’s book ‘Rocket Madsen’, the inventor describes himself as a ‘nerd with few friends’ who grew up with his elderly father after the parents separation.
Early on, he joined several rocket and space travel clubs, but his lack of patience and short fuse saw him excluded from the societies in his teens.
‘The past few years, he has been driven by a kind of vengeance. To show those he has worked with in the past, but who has since become his adversaries, that he can beat them,’ Mr Djursing toldExpressen.
‘He is a crazy person,’ photographer Bo Tornvig tells the newspaper.
‘I mean, making space rockets and sailing around in home-made submarines is not normal behaviour. But I’ve never seen him lay a hand on anyone. This whole story really stinks.
Miss Wall’s family and boyfriend have not heard from her since she boarded the submarine and police have been unable to contact her
The UC3 Nautilus was raised from the bottom of Copenhagen harbour on Saturday night where it had been under 8m (24ft) of water since sinking on Friday morning
Despite not finding Miss Wall’s body, Danish investigators are continuing to search in water and on land for any sign of her
Police technicians are pictured investigating the rescued private owned submarine UC3 Nautilus today
Madsen claims he dropped Miss Wall off at the mouth of the harbour and was the only one on board when his craft (pictured right) sank
The privately owned submarine, Nautilus, arriving in Copenhagen harbour today. Danish investigators say they have found evidence the Nautilus was sunk deliberately as they continue land and sea searches for any sign of Miss Wall
The 40-ton, 18-meter long Nautilus, one of three subs built by Madsen, was found by divers under 7m (24ft) of water, though they were unable to enter it safely
Speaking to reporters at court, Madsen said ‘there is something I really want to tell you later’, without elaborating any further.
Before the two-hour hearing, which was held in private and attended by his relatives, Madsen smiles, chatted with his lawyer and told reporters: ‘I would very much like to express myself’.
The prosecutor asked for doors to the hearing to be closed as information likely to distress Miss Wall’s family was about to be heard.
If convicted, Madsen faces between five years and life in prison.
The 40-ton, 18-meter long Nautilus, one of three subs built by Madsen, was found by divers under 7m (24ft) of water, though they were unable to enter it safely.
A salvage ship, the Vina, has now raised the sub from the sea bed close to Copenhagen’s south island of Dragoer and brought it back to shore to be inspected.
Authorities were alerted that something had gone wrong with the submarine by Miss Wall’s boyfriend after she failed to return home, prompting a major search operation involving two helicopters, three ships and several private boats.
Kristian Isbak, who had responded to the Navy’s call to help locate the ship, sailed out immediately Friday and saw Madsen standing wearing his trademark military fatigues in the submarine’s tower while it was still afloat.
Divers had located the submarine underwater on Friday but were unable to enter it safely
The submarine was reported missing early on Friday by Miss Wall’s boyfriend after she failed to return home, prompting a major search operation by the Danish Navy
‘He then climbed down inside the submarine and there was then some kind of air flow coming up and the submarine started to sink,’ Isbak told The Associated Press.
‘(He) came up again and stayed in the tower until water came into it’ before swimming to a nearby boat as the submarine sank, he added.
Madsen said there was a valve error that became serious when he tried to repair it.
Footage aired on Denmark’s TV2 channel showed Madsen, 46, getting off what seemed to be a private boat and making a thumbs up sign as he walked away.
Upon his rescue from Køge Bay, Madsen said: ‘I’m fine. But I’m sorry because ‘Nautilus’ has gone down.’
Madsen, pictured above in 2008 in front of his submarine, was seen standing the tower of the still-floating submarine moments before it sank, according to a rescuer
Peter Madsen, who built the submarine himself before inviting Miss Wall along for the maiden voyage, is still under investigation for negligent manslaughter as investigators say there is evidence it was wrecked deliberately
The submarine was Madsen’s third attempt at building such a structure and was the largest privately built submarine in the world at the time of its launch.
The Nautilus was a diesel-electric submarine. The diesel engine is uses when sailing or propelling just below the surface, while the electrical engine is used when the submarine is deep below the water’s surface.
It was built like a post-World War II submarine, with a galley, crew bunks, officer’s mass, bridge and engine room.
It’s named after the famed submarine manned by Jules Verne’s Captain Nemo character in Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea.